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The Shrine of Our Lord of Esquipulas
--The Sick get Healed. The Prayers being answered--

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Chimayó is also believed by many to be the site of a miracle which occurred about 200 years ago. Miraculous healings are believed to have occurred at the site where a wooden crucifix was unearthed. Because of this a chapel was built in 1816 called el Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas. This chapel, now commonly called el Santuario de Chimayó, is the destination of thousands of pilgrims and travellers each year who come for various reasons; some hoping to be healed, some simply for curiousity, and some hoping to be restored spiritually by the tranquility and hospitality of the surroundings.

Many believers in the Santo Niño de Atocha also come to Chimayó. In the beginning of World War II many New Mexico soldiers were stationed in the Phillipines because of their fluency in Spanish. During the long siege of Corregidor and the subsequent Bataan Death March many of our soldiers prayed to the Santo Niño de Atocha and many believed that they survived as a result of his intercession. After the war these soldiers began the annual Easter tradition of walking to el Santuario de Chimayó in honor of the Santo Niño de Atocha and in memory of the Bataan Death March. The tradition flourished, and in the days leading up to Easter the roads and paths in north-central New Mexico are filled with people young and old making the journey on foot.

El Santuario has been called the “Lourdes of America.” The reference is undoubtedly the healings which have been attributed to the the dirt in which was found the crucifix of our Lord of Esquipulas. Fr Sebastian Alvarez, in his letter to to the Espiscopal See of Durango (1813), left no doubt that he considered a place of healing.

In time, the mass media paid attention to the little shrine in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Local news TV have done feature stories, and newspaper from Chicago, New York, Denver, Washington DC, LA Times, National Geographic, Time and Newsweek magazines have taken themselves to inform public about the Shrine.

The Shrine of El Santuario De Chimayo describes:
“What is the “holy dirt”? Where does it come from? There are legends about the dirt.in the little well replaces itself in some extraordinary way. This is not true. This dirt is brought from the surrounding hillside and every time the little well is filled by custodian, it is blessed by the priest. In itself, the dirt does not have any curative power.

Knowing this, some may wonder why people come? People come El Santuario not only when they want something, but also to pray, in thanksgiving, and to worship God. Something about this place helps people experience God.”


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